Red Light

This is a typical example of what happens at most red lights here in Jeddah. The car I am in is the first car stopped in our lane at a red light. You can see that there are two vehicles sitting in the intersection that appear like they are stopped at a red light, waiting to make a left turn. The problem is that each of these cars came from the far right lane, crossing over several lanes of stopped cars to get into their position. Many times, several more cars will do the exact same thing. So even though we may have come to a stop at the red light first, there are several other cars that are much more important than we obviously are that must take their rightful place ahead of us. Saudi Arabia has one of the very highest vehicle accident rates in the world, and an equally dismal record in traffic deaths. Most people here do not use seatbelts, nor do they buckle in children nor do they place babies in infant car seats. Babies ride on the laps of maids, moms, or even driving dads. Traffic safety here is practically non-existent. To the government’s credit, I have recently noticed a number of extremely gruesome television public service announcements aimed at promoting traffic safety and curbing hazardous driving habits on the roads.

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